Crusade
by hippy-lip
Summary: Honour and piety guide the righteous sword. Ancient history catches up with Naruto, the child of prophecy. Knight!Naruto. Currently: Origin I.
1. Prologue: Ancient History

"Legend, myth, fairy tales. There are many of those in these lands, students. From Kinkaku and Ginkaku, brothers of gold and silver, eating their way out of the nine-tailed demons stomach to Sanho the bridge guarding samurai. However we may only have half of a collective story before us, be one of a two sectioned tale. The legend I am to tell you is known to all scholars, the creation story of the world as we know it...

Born from the Priestess Who Stole Life Its Self in the time of the Thousand Temples, his power was divine. From his hands he could create life, from his mind came machines of the gods, from the Earth did all animals obey his command, and from his eyes...did he see the souls of men. From his eyes, did the very fabric of our reality ripple.

We know him as the Sage of Six Paths. Through the lands he roamed, a being of peace. Bloodied battlefields would become plains of flowers in an instant, armed men dropping to their knees for his forgiveness. In his presence did the best of man come to the surface. He was their god. In his travels, he assembled many loyal disciples, spreading the way of peace in his name. A legion made up of those who followed from the moment they had witnessed his glory, and those who had once called himself his enemy.

He and his loyal followers chased the original demon through the lands, following the flames of its rampage. It took many years of pursuit, but the Sage and the Disciples finally faced it. The original sin of his mother incarnate, the wrath of the primordial God, Shinju. A beast which blotted out the sun with its size, its cyclopean eye driving men to break, ten mountain-spanning tails invoking the storms known as the God Scourges.

And so they fought it, for many days and nights, wondrous and terrible forgotten powers clashing among the Earth, skies and beyond to destroy the Shinju once and for all. The first chakra users of old are far different from what we would imagine now. Their power was granted to them by the Sage, their strength raw and elemental.

Lord Salûon and his legion of metal and honour, clad in golden armour. It was as if the sun its self had blessed his blades, rending mountains in half with his conviction. He and his men followed the Sage out of respect, mutual goals and revenge. Their god demanded it. The head of the beast would be for theirs, for their home and deity.

Sorceror-Emperor Nebukandessar, a long time friend, disciple and former tutor of the Sage. He was but a master of smoke and mirrors before being granted chakra by his one time student. His magic became real, his form a living thunderstorm at his apex of power. The Selhunni empire followed their sovereign without question, their schools of now true magicians turning the very elements against the Shinju.

Oda, the immortal samurai. A childhood friend and rival of the Sage, who he helped him found the Shinobi Sect. When granted chakra he used it like the humble man he was, extending the reach of his blades. While he lacked the divine destructive power of the others, not once did he bleed to the enemies of the Sage or the Shinju. His name was earned.

The bastions of humanity never relented against the destroyer, the very Earth reshaping around them, stars filling the sky in testimony to their struggle. The old gods watched, and they supported. The thunder storm with eyes and beard, Nebukandessar, struck the Shinju with his time and again with his bolts and arcs. Salûon cleaved limb after limb, only for it to regrow. Oda blinded the creature with his precision of bow and blade, and the Sage finally brought the beast to its last legs.

Salûon's blade, filled with the power of gods and chakra, finally landed a true strike on the Shinju which shattered the Earth. With their opening created, they tried to kill the beast but to no avail. No sealing pot could hold it, its chakra could not be drained, its body could not be completely killed. Only one gamble was successful, the sealing of the creature within the God Among Men himself.

That is where the story ends, usually. But, there is more to know. There is always more to know.

Days of rest followed as the cataclysm settled, the land finally calming its self from the battle. The disciples and the Sage sat in silence, the experience taking much from them. Nebukandessar broke the days of quiet.

"We should learn from it!" He proclaimed. Nabukandessar was a man who held knowledge above all else. The Shinju tempted his vice of greed. Salûon looked to his ally, shouting in rage!

"What more is there to learn, Sorceror?!" Salûon's twin daughters, unioned with the sons of the Sage who stood beside their respective wife, Oda, the Sage and his wife watched the exchange between the two. "We have already learned what the beast has to offer! Death and chaos! We must know learn how to slay it for the sake of all!" The Shinju tempted Lord Salûon's wrath. They each stood, and argued back and forth. The sons, Salûon's daughters and Oda knew not what to say or do to stop the two. The Sage's wife is said to have looked to her husband, and seen anger in his rippled eyes, the first time anyone had witnessed such.

"ENOUGH!" A cry from the heavens and earth brought everything to the quiet. "Are you both so blind to your sin?!" The Sage pleaded with his friends to see reason, but they refused to listen to his reason. Salûon's daughters stood to their fathers sides in agreement. They too had seen the destruction of their home at the hands of the Shinju.

And so, in the first and only act of anger from the Sage of Six Paths, he raised his staff to the air and proclaimed -

"You who would be guided by your avarice and hate, after all we have seen, have no place in the world that is forming because of our actions! Let you be entrapped by it for generations to come, let your ancestors pay for your mistakes! And let an ancestor be the one to wake you from your dreams of greed and fury!"

Storms gathered above them, silencing even the thunderclap of the infuriated Nebukandessar. The Earth split between Salûon, Nebukandessar and the others, a massive void filling with water between them. Before too long, the two disciples were isolated from the rest, an entire ocean separating them from the Sage with a godly storm looming over the vast waters. The people of Salûon and Nebukandessar were alone, left to the dry desert land before them.

Their fates are unknown to us, in the Lands. The only hint to their fate is a myth, that every century a warrior clad in odd, silver armour appears, hunting for the fragments of the Shinju.

Some say this is simply a parable, warning us to control our vices lest they lead us to our own destruction...

Others believe that it is truth."

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi could smell the village burning behind him. He wanted as much as anything to turn around and help with the fires, but he needed to find them. He needed to find Minato and Kushina. He hobbled to where the sealing had taken place, undergoing chakra exhaustion after holding back the nine-tails for the night. He was running on fumes, but he couldn't give up.

He reached the clearing. A mess of blood and dirt. He saw them, Minato and Kushina, laying around a bundled up form. They'd died not minutes ago. Someone else was there, clad in metal plating and blue fabric, light blonde hair in a loose mess along their shoulders and upper back. They stared down at the two, fists clenched and as still as the nights wind.

"It is over then?" The Third said, trying his best to maintain his business guise under the current circumstances. He stood beside the other person in the clearing, joining them in looking at the dead couple and their crying baby son.

"Yes." Her voice was firm, no sentimentality being betrayed. She turned to the old man, cold aquamarine eyes seeming to piece through his very soul. So young, he thought. "A trade was guaranteed, Sarutobi Hiruzen." Sarutobi stiffened at the mention of it, favouring one side for a moment.

"Indeed, I suppose it was..." Hiruzen's eyes wandered to a blade sticking out of the ground next to her, a golden light slightly emitting from it. So young, but so powerful.

"Six paths reside upon his visage, as the Tusk foretold." She looked back to their son and Hiruzen followed her gaze. Six marks on his face, like whiskers. She hesitated for a moment, a flicker of grief making its self known from the downward twitch of her mouth. "He was distant family, but in the two years I was by his side I could not help but feel he was closer. A big brother, father maybe." She leaned down, metal tapping against metal, scooping up the crying bundle in her arm. "But I had my goal, my pilgrimage. So a trade was made on this night. I would weaken the demon for them, using all the power I could muster, and I would be granted the boy when it was over." Hiruzen had known the girl for about as long as Minato, and he had not seen her display this side before. The girl from the land of myth.

"...Did they at least name him?"

"Naruto. They said his name was Naruto." Her green eyes stared at the whining face of the baby Naruto, as if confused. "'I shall take the boy now, and in a decade I shall return with the man.'" Naruto's eyes opened, blue as the deep oceans. He blinked at her, the crying coming to an ease.

"I recognise your agreement, Scylla-kun." Hiruzen wished this didn't have to happen. The legacy of Minato and Kushina, in the hands of someone who would take him far away. Too far.

"Very well. A decade, on this day." Hiruzen took a deep breath, turning his back to the scene and Scylla with Naruto. "Minato trusted you enough to make the agreement. I will trust you to bring the boy home, on the day of his tenth birthday." Hiruzen said nothing more, gone in the next instant. Scylla pursed her lip, prodding Naruto's forehead lightly. The baby tried to grab for her plated finger.

"Six paths upon his visage, eyes of the calm sea, hair of Salûon's lost line..." She listed off, stepping away from the scene and away from the village, drawing her sword from the ground as she passed.

"The Child of Prophecy."

* * *

**Authors Note:**  
**Oh lord what am I doing**  
**A prologue to a story idea I had today. I wrote this up in about an hour and a half and wanted to get it out there to collect thoughts some thoughts and rouse interest. I'm going to leave it as it is for now to focus on Deep Purple, but I'll definitely return to this at some point. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Origin I: Sword Saint Born

_Seven Years Later..._

The Swazir Steppe, a vast plain of dry and dusty earth, south of the Golden Capital of Swazeth and south of the life-giving river which runs through the vast city. It is infertile, inhospitable land where only warrior-nomads would dare live, usually barren of life outside of critters and insects. Not today.

The hooves of a near-red stallion thundered across the Steppe, a large plume of dust kicking up behind it. The small rider, clad in a leather chestguard dyed royal red embroidered with gold cloth in wondrous patterns along the edges, less regal white dressings covering the rest of his body, blonde of hair and with true blue eyes, looked behind him to the plume seeking his pursuer, the pounding of her mount not far behind.

White and blue burst from the cloud, an ivory horse with an armoured rider. A knight. It only took ten seconds for the knight to near its goal, riding along side the smaller of the two. The blonde haired rider reached for his side, drawing a short sword appropriate for his side. He squinted at the approaching knight, readying his blade as they did theirs.

_'I couldn't run forever...'_

The knight swung her blade in an underhand arc upon approach. The small was forced to block the blow specifically made to disrupt a rider and their steed. His red horse diverted at an angle, and the knight followed, bringing her blade down on him. A parry from, the noise lost to the rumble of hooves on hard dirt. He didn't take his eyes off of the knight, steering with instinct.

He reared his blade hand back, ramming it forward for the knights leg only to be the one parried. He brought the sword back around for a cleave. She blocked with ease, shoving the offending blade away. She brought her sword down on the rider...

Another clash of metal, the flat of the small riders shortsword smacking against her wrist and grip. The knights sword spiralled away into the dirt, a landmark of this clash. The rider pulled down the fabric covering his mouth and grinned at the knight. Beautiful aquamarine eyes squinted at him behind a helmet. She forced her horse to a stop, the rider looked back in confusion and then his world went spinning.

His mount stopped suddenly, sending the bot flying through the air and into the reason for his mounts abrupt cease, a large boulder. With a loud thud, his front hit the rock and slid down it rather unceremoniously. He groaned, pushing himself onto his back. With a cough, he began to blink the dirt out of his eyes to stare up at the clear sky.

An ornate knife embedded its self in the ground next to his head, a metal food stepping down beside him. He saw the eyes again, face shadowed from the light from her arch. He grinned up at her, letting out a 'tee-hee'. Her gauntlet came down, gripping the scruff of the boys white garments, pulling him up to his fate.

"Arrogance is the downfall of the mightiest warriors, Naru. You would be wise to remember that." Her voice held room for no nonsense, firm and feminine. He got a good look at her, knowing what to expect.

Blonde hair tied back into a braided bun, two bangs hanging at the side of her head. Her hair was a lighter shade of blonde than his own, and far smoother. She was small for a knight, he'd noticed. In reality, she actually stood at 5'2, and from what could be glimpsed through the armour, her build was petite. Of course, she was still taller than Naru, a seven year old, but he was getting there.

"Sorry, Auntie Scylla." Naruto placed his hand over his heart, bowing his upper body in apology. The knight, Scylla, stared at the display before shaking her head, a slight smile coming to her face.

"You are making me feel bad, Naru. Stop that, and we will make our way back to the capital. Achai will be unhappy if you miss another day of your studies out here." She knelt down, retrieving her knife. Naruto nodded, putting two fingers to his lips and whistling.

"Comet! He called out, and the red horse came galloping over to its own, snorting and putting its mouth to Naruto's hand. "Good boy." Naruto petted the horse on the head before stepping up to the saddle, reigns in hand. Scylla did the same, turning her horse to face.

"North, to Swazeth. Eya!" She charged her horse off northwards, and Naruto followed. The two rode across the Steppe, the trails lasting minutes after their departure

* * *

_The continent called Second Land, a zone made for the purpose of penance for the descendants of Salûon and Nebukandessar. Isolated from the Ninja World, the people of Second Land have grown differently from their cousins across the ocean. Religions no longer found among the Ninja World may still thrive in Second Land, the ninja as it is known does not dwell there, either. War is fought through mount and blade, knight and archer, across the vast desert that takes up most of the land. Though the land is harsh and cursed with monstrous creatures of old and the greed of man, it has been tamed by two opposing empires._

_To south of the unforgiving continent is the Shriel Dynasty, the gold city of Swazeth at its head. Centuries worth of supposed God-Kings have ruled from the seat of Swazeth, descendants of Salûon himself. But, kings die, their power spent in times gone by. What refuses to change are their ways. Despite the harsh heat, the Shrial place high value on their most pious knights, following the ways of Salûon and his followers who were first granted chakra. The Shriel Dynasty controls the southern hemisphere of Second Land unofficially. It is surrounded by smaller, broken off states which act as puppets for Swazeth while believing they have sovereignty. But when the God-King says kneel, though, they will do so._

_The north is controlled by the massive Selhunni Empire, or at least what were the Selhunni in ancient times. Chepheranni is its beating heart, old stones of red making up its walls and buildings. Ziggurats, temples, universities, pure water flowing from the mountain which the city rests it back and through its centre, down through the rest of Second Land. Once ruled by Sorceror-Emperors, the Selhunni are now ruled by the First Family, descendants of Nebukandessar and lauded as the most powerful chakra users in Second Land, though the overall potency of power has decreased greatly since the days of the original two founders. The Selhunni empire has two things in abundance – numbers and Chakra Schools. While the Shriel place their faith in the powerful individual knights and warriors, the Selhunni work en masse to overwhelm the Shriel and whoever may stand against them, while handfuls of charka users wreath havoc._

_A never ending cycle of war and cease fire continues in Second Land, unknown to the Ninja World. The only hints of Second Land in the Ninja World come from myth and the most faithful and powerful of the Shriel knights who undergo a deadly pilgrimage, braving the violent ocean and storm between the two lands._

_Scylla, prodigious knight and twin sister to the God-King, underwent her pilgrimage at the age of 14, her oath and goal 'to progress the Holy Tusks prophecy.' There, she met distant family. Two years later, she returned to her home with a baby. That baby was Naruto._

* * *

Naruto and Scylla rode for two days with only moments of rest, reaching the gates of Swazeth as the sun rose on the third day. A bundle of bronze at the posts became clearer to them as they got closer, guards awaiting their return. Scylla looked behind her to Naruto before taking up a greater lead on the boy to greet the guards.

"Hail!" She called, bringing her ivory mount to a halt, straightening her back. She asserted her position as royalty, looking down upon the guards with an almost otherworldly feeling about her. These were no simple watchmen, she realised. Naruto came up beside her, face as blank as hers in stark contrast to the grin he wore around her. He had learned well, the ways of the Game.

"Hello to you, Janissaries of the God-King." Naruto's greeting was polite, bowing his head in their presence. He was technically royalty, but he was not recognised as such by most. Greater respect was required out of him towards the likes of the Janisarrial Guard, the shields of the God-King himself. They were an intimidating bunch. She had taught Naruto about them early on into his studies, as they were among the most dangerous people to deal with, being directly under the Kings command.

They believed themselves to be guardian angels. Each bronze coloured shoulder pad was forged after the head of an animal, and their metal warmasks betrayed no expression, forged to appear like expressionless and perfect faces. Only those who were of higher rank were permitted to wear the imagery of a lion anywhere on their armour, and before them was a man with a roaring lions viasge as a shoulder guard leading the contingent.

"Your Royal Highness." The lion-guarded man bowed his head in reverence, and the others followed. Something entirely unnecessary, Scylla believed. While she shared a womb with the God-King she had chosen the life of the knight. She was their equal, in her eyes.

"His Eminence would request yours and your squires presence in the palace on matters of the Holy Tusk." The Janissary captain delivered. "We are to accompany you, should you wish." Naruto stepped forward on his horse, shaking his head, blue eyes attempting to piece through the metal veil.

"I speak for Her Royal Highness when I decline, captain. We would much rather ride there." Scylla looked at Naruto out of the corner of her eye. He was learning how to exert his will onto others, like a royal. He had good reason not to want this, however. He was not popular among the noble circles, as an outsider and more. The eyeless holes on the mask stared back at Naruto, the boys expression remaining as still as the captains mask.

"Very well." He conceded. He gestured, and his men took a step back in unison, clearing the way. "Sun protect you." The guards bowed, and Scylla nodded to them. She took off ahead of Naruto again, who eventually caught up to ride along side her.

"That was brazen of you, Naru. Your skill at the Game and your age will not protect you from a wrathful Janissary. You know this." Naruto pursed his lip, looking off to the side and away from Scylla. They passed over the river garden road, one long path that took them to the many steps of the palace. Children often played at the shore of the river, not a single shop stand in sight. It was illegal to place them along the road, lest their presence offend the God-King in his passing.

"I know, auntie. I just like to see how much I can get away with." He turned his head back to Scylla, grinning from ear to ear. She let out an amused huff, smiling. So much like his father. Though, his grin was not true, it was a lie to try and hide something else from her. Faces betrayed so much about a persons feelings.

"Do not try such a thing with my brother. You know him well enough, child." Naruto nodded, closing his eyes and frowning. Him and her brother did not get along too well, it was understandable why he'd feel this way. He was educated in the ways of politicking with nobles and the likes, but he was still a mere seven year old who just happened to be tutored in the ways of the knight.

They climbed the many steps leading to the spacious throne room. It was designed to be more of a look out point over the rest of the city. There was only one wall, a tale carved into it, at the back of the box-room, pillars and red drapes plus the immovable guards making up for the absence of the other walls. Placed just before the single wall was the stone seat of the Shriel Dynasty, rather humble in comparison to the rest of the city with simple carved patterns running over it.

The slim, effeminate man sat upon it was had a striking resemblance to Scylla, definitely her twin with a few minor differences. His eyes were not as soft as his sister's, unnaturally red and constantly judging those before him in amusement, his blonde hair short and shaggy. Golden accessories adorned his exposed upper body, bands, necklaces and earrings in decadence fitting to one who is called God-King. Red, tribal-styled patterns were etched along his torso and shoulders, a sign of Shriel sealing magic.

Scylla brought Naruto down to a kneel by his shoulder, joining her on one knee before her brother with their eyes locked on the reflective marble floor. The God-King lifted his chin off of his palm, shifting his arm from the stone rest of the throne. The usual, arrogant smirk of the king intensified.

"We were summoned, Your Majesty." Scylla was the first one to speak, her and Naruto unmoving. The king leaned back in his throne, an amused huff coming from him.

"Stand up, both of you. It is unbecoming of our most valued knight and my dearest sibling. Plus her squire, of course." He began with something near to care in his voice, but ending rather sarcastically. They did as instructed standing. They both wore the same face of impassiveness and stoicism which was signature to the knights. "You have permission to speak, Scylla. And for the Goods' sake, call me Inri."He shook his head, rolling his eyes as if embarrassed with his sisters formality. A pair of orbs glinted from the shadow of the throne, making its self known a few seconds later. A large four legged animal stepped out from behind the Kings chair, glorious golden mane surrounding its head. It stared at the two, evaluating them, and then moved to the kings feet, laying down. The lion never took its eyes off of Naruto.

"On matters of the Tusk? That is not usually on your agenda, Inri." To all those present, including the guards, they knew this statement meant more than what it was. To play the Game was to see the truth below words and facial muscles, to pick up on the slightest hints of emotion and intent. 'You are not a believer, why do you care about the Tusk' would be closer to the true words being spoken. Inri picked up on this, snorting.

"That is true, but I merely use it in reference to the boy." He pointed to Naruto, his smirk fading into a flat line. "I believe it is time." Naruto kept his stoic mask up, but he really wanted to do anything in his power to annoy the man. He had learned better, though.

"Time for what?" Scylla's mask dropped, regarding her brother with suspicion. There were few things he could mean, in this context.

"You know precisely what I mean, sister." His smirk returned, turning his head up at them. In Inri's mind, this was a masterstroke move. "The Sword Saint Trance."

Those words came down like a hammer on those present in the room, slight but mostly unnoticeable movements from the Janissaries. Naruto's mask broke, blinking several times, blue eyes going wide. He looked up to Scylla for some sort of answer.

"What?" The boy asked to his guardian, only to receive a silencing glare from her. Speak when told to, in the throne room. Inri chuckled, rubbing his chin and delighting in the child's reaction.

"With all due respect, Your Majesty..." She reverted to formalities "Naru is but a child. Asking such a difficult and holy task from him is -" Inri opened his mouth to speak, she could not finish.

"Yes, yes. We both know that is no excuse, don't we? How old were you when you underwent your first trance? And what has this boy done other than train under you for the entirety of his short life? I deem him ready!" The Kings hand gripped at the end of the thrones arm rest, teeth bared at his sister. Inri made little effort to play the Game, he did not feel he had to. Scylla made a fist.

"Very well." She conceded. "When shall it take place?"

"Tomorrow. You shall oversee it." He clapped his hands. "Leave me."

Scylla turned and left, Naruto struggling to keep up with the speed which she descended the stairs. The lion looked up at Inri when they left.

* * *

"Aunt Scylla, wait! Wait!" Naruto tried his best to keep pace with Scylla on the large steps, but his height didn't make it easy. She eventually stopped with her back to Naruto, waiting. He caught up to her, sweat rolling down his brow as the morning sun beat down on the city. Scylla looked at her ward, flexing her plated hand a few times.

"I am sorry, Naruto. You have come very far in your training, a prodigy among us, but..." Scylla closed her eyes. She felt a small hand grip at her plated fingers, trying to hold her hand. She looked to Naruto. seeing his signature wide grin forced a smile out of her. How she despised her brother for doing this.

"I'll do it! Just believe in me, auntie. If I want to be the greatest knight, then I've got to do it! I've beaten the King before, remember?" He seemed to eager and happy. Indeed, that had happened, two years ago. It was not a physical fight, but a clash of wisdom.

* * *

_Senhue was a unique board game in Second Land. It was different in that the rules were not a fixed framework, rather they were more of another piece to be played within the game. Complex to a poetic level, no player can intellectually control the board. Those who try are punished, in fact. Benjuka required not the cunning present within chess. It needed something most could only discover themselves: wisdom._

_When he was five, Naruto bested Inri at Senhue._

_It started out as both a training exercise for the boy, and a means of showing Scylla how wrong she was in believing there was any value to be had in Naruto, but after a year it turned purely into the latter reason. Twice a week, Naruto would play against Inri in the throne room, alone other than the lanterns to give light once the sun had set. Each time it was a sweeping victory for Inri, his age, experience and natural wisdom being the deciding factors._

_One night, that simply wasn't the case. Naruto sweeped Inri's sides of the board in turns. The God-King raised his fist, smashing the board into shards in his fury, pieces scattering along the floor. His glared at the scrambling Naruto, the other blondes fear doing nothing to quell this near-murderous fire in his gut._

_How dare a child best the God-King! It was a fluke, but he was not willing to chance it. He shut his eyes, and for the first time in years, played the Game. His face became an emotionless front, and he called for his aides._

_The next day, Naruto found himself in the King's carriage, accompanied by the owner of it and Scylla, who did not say a word to her brother during the trip Naruto had noticed. Inri had actually talked to Naruto through out the trip, displaying interest in the child but always with that condescending air about him. He was rude, insulting and arrogant, Naruto didn't need to be older to understand that much. The trip took four days, and Inri insisted that Naruto play more games of Senhue with him, all of which he lost. The child took some joy in watching the ticks of frustration each time the King realised he was going to lose control of the board._

_They reached their destination, atop a hill overlooking a vast valley which was green, something Naruto had never seen outside of Swazeth. There were black dots all over the valley, flags waving in the airs. He saw groups of them move quickly, dust kicking up as they moved forward in divisions with chants coming from then. There was a large divide between one group of specks and another, which seemed to stretch as far as the horizon would go, waving different flags._

_The King set down a large Senhue board before Naruto, sitting under a royal canopy with a table between them. Scylla stood off to the side of them, staring out across the valley._

_"This will be a somewhat different game of Senhue, boy." The King snapped his finger and a runner appeared next to him. Inri leaned forward, staring Naruto in the eyes. "Turns will take longer to end, and I will be assisted in my moves by this fellow here. The rules remain the same, in that we craft them in the game. The pieces are free."_

_The king opened by moving several pieces on his sides of the board forward, towards Naruto's flanks. Fast moving pieces, representing mounted units. Naruto responded by moving his central formation forward to meet the kings own, sending two units at each respective side to deal with the attempted flanking move. They were representative of mounted lancers._

_The king rubbed his chin, nodding slowly a few times. He looked to the runner, barking the details of Naruto's move to him. The runner took down the hill, and the sound of horns moved through the battlefield, starting close and then getting further and further away. Naruto knew this was the way which the Shriel forces communicated mass movements to their soldiers in the midst of battle. The king sat silently, watching the board for what felt like an hour before the runner returned, muttering something into the ear of the king. He nodded._

_"Second turn, then." He added pieces to his side of the board, something that usually didn't happen. He made his move, and then Naruto made his. The king told the runner, and the runner moved. It happened like this for hours until the sun was an hour past its peak. The ground had been rumbling since their first turn, but it suddenly got weaker and weaker, as if moving away. Cheers came from the valley, and Scylla looked at Naruto with a smile._

_"...My units concede, Naru. I remove my pieces from the board." Inri's face was a confused mess of expression. He was annoyed, but he wanted to be happy. He sweeped his pieces off the board dramatically, only Naruto's remaining. Naruto felt a feeling of supreme triumph in his gut on that day, for a reason he couldn't place._

_The God-King stopped playing Senhue with Naruto after that day, and it was a year later when Scylla actually told him what he had accomplished on that day._

_The boy terrified the God-King._

* * *

"Arrogance, Naruto." She used his full name, causing the boy to flinch. "Remember what happened during mounted-combat training." The feeling of rock connecting with his face was hard to forget. Naruto nodded, successfully scolded. "You do not know what the trance entails, Naruto, but you know what happens if you fail to bring yourself out..." She paused, wanting Naruto to finish the sentiment.

"...You could lose who you are." And he did so, rubbing the back of his head. Scylla knelt down on the steps to eye level with Naruto, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"I made a promise, Naru. You will go on your pilgrimage in three years as Naruto, not a husk. Do you understand the gravity of the situation?" Guilt sank into Naruto. He wanted to look away, but Scylla's eyes were inescapable.

"Yes, Scylla."

"Good. Let us prepare."

* * *

Sunlight beamed through the space between pillars, warming the stone floor to a pleasant degree beneath young Naruto. The terrace shrine overlooked the golden city below it and the dunes outside of the city.

"Did you drink as instructed?" The voice of Scylla came from behind him.

Naruto shifted to the side somewhat to face Scylla from his spot on the ground. Scylla stepped forward from the shade of the inner shrine. Her hair was set free, flowing down to her middle back, dressed in what initially appeared to be a blue dress with sleeves but Naruto came to quickly realise that this was simply what she wore under the armour when he saw her plated legs between a split in the dresses lower front.

"Yes, First Among Equals." Naruto bowed his head to the ground, using Scylla's formal title as a knight. During training, there could be no attachment, only betterment.

"What is it to be a Holy Shriel Knight, Naruto?" She sat in front of Naruto and they matched stares.

"It is to be a servant of the Good, as dictated by the Tusk. We serve no king or baron, but the sun and its light, which illuminates all else for us to see the truth." Naruto felt a swell of pride in his chest, continuing his answer. "It is to defend the weak, as dictated by the Tusk. We fight not for currency or fame, but for those who live within the light of the sun from those who would take that from them. It is to to be in constant pursuit of the penance and justice, as dictated by the Tusk. We must redeem all who dwell in these lands."

Scylla nodded, drawing a longsword from its scabbard. She stood once again, ramming the blade down into the stone floor behind Naruto.

"Face the blade."

Naruto turned as he did earlier, facing the flat of the blade, suspended by the stone, looking out across the city and dunes.

"Sit here in posture, and repeat this:" Her voice was neither stern or soft, it simply was, "'The pursuit of justice is without beginning or end.' You will repeat it without pause until I tell you otherwise. Understood, Naruto?"

"I understand, First Among Equals." Naruto replied, looking at the handle of the blade.

Scylla sat beside Naruto, mirroring the posture of focus – legs crossed, hands placed on the knees, back straight, gaze forward.

"Begin."

"The pursuit of justice is without beginning or end. The pursuit of justice is without beginning or end. The pursuit of justice is without beginning..."

At first, this exercise seemed far easier to Naruto than all previous exercises. Although, words seemed to stop being that, becoming a constant string of odd sounds which seemed to lose meaning more and more as he repeated. He felt his jaw and tongue strain.

"No longer say it aloud. Only in your head." Scylla spoke after a couple of hours.

_'The pursuit of justice is without beginning or end...'_

The ease of the exercise was lost. He had no brace in his mind like his voice box, jaw and tongue, the statement simply propped against him alone. He repeated and repeated. He began to notice some odd things, the first that his face felt truly severed from his feelings, slack and blank. No longer could he impose passion upon the facial muscles. His body became as still as Scylla beside him. However, felt tension pulling at him, as if something was pushing and pushing at his soul and mind. The thought echoed through him.

Naruto's soul was at war, against primitive urges which appeared from the depths of his being, unthought thoughts demanding they be focused on, images roaring for mental acknowledgement.

_'The pursuit of justice is without beginning or end...'_

This proposition was more than simple words being repeated over and over, it had put Naruto against himself. He could see his own injustices and was being cleansed of them, awakening him to the light of the Good.

The sun finally set, Scylla spoke once more.

"Continue through the night, Naruto. When the sun breaks through the sand hills, you will cease repeating the final word of the statement. Each time the rays are visible between a different valley, you will cease repeating a word until you reach the final. Understood?"

"Yes, First Among Equals." Was that him speaking? He couldn't tell.

The night was even more difficult. Sensations became far more clear in the chill of the night, the cold breeze raking across his pores. His body felt like a prison for himself, for his constantly changing self in conflict with another inmate, also him. The sun finally broke through the first valley, and Naruto saw beauty. It had felt like years since he saw it. The proposition ceased, and he thought of the sun and its light, like food to a starving man-

A crushing pressure overcame him, the source right next to him. Scylla, and her chakra. He could feel it...like she was going to kill him.

"Do not stop." He voice held rage, not genuine in its origin but a near replica.

_'The pursuit of justice is without beginning or...'_

Naruto felt like he wanted to vomit, but it was soon lost on him as he once again became the proposition and the storm. He was a stranger in a frame. Time was simply something to him, he was unsure of what direction it was going, but what he did know was that the sun continued to glimpse through the valleys until he was left only with:

_'The pursuit...'_

Over and over. The light shone through another valley.

'_The. The. The...'_

The repetition was maddening, Naruto could feel the finale approaching. At last, the suns radiance burst over the final valley, taking its place among the peaks of the hills. The last beam illuminated Naruto. And then silence.

_'…'_

Naruto felt himself cease to be an individual. His essence slipped into the shrine, the city, the world its self. Scylla watched, as she had the entire night. He was no longer the seven year old boy, he was the place. But where did he find himself? A place without sound or smell, no feeling or sensation. Just the sun before him, the Good and the sword.

His body moved with his soul and he gripped the handle of the embedded blade, taking it from its stone. He stood, the sword hanging at his side. He couldn't feel himself, yet he moved. Scylla stood, drawing her own blade from its scabbard, taking stance. Naruto turned his head to look at her, but he felt nothing. He saw her blonde hair glint against the sun, aquamarine eyes truly blank, just as his own were. His body moved into stance as well.

He finally heard something. The clash of steel on steel, the meeting of sword. Again and again, like an orchestra of battle. He fought Scylla, a glorious dance before the audience of himself. His body moved in perfect synchronisation with Scylla's attacks and guard, and she did the same for him. He heard her talking through the dance, not with words but with the sword. He felt sensation return to him, but repressed behind the wall of his soul. Control returned to him, after feeling like he could have been lost forever. His body continued to move in such wondrous ways. This was the movement of body and soul, of one who pursued justice and swung true. Their swords met, pressing against one another. Their eyes remained locked.

_'Do you see clearly now, Naruto?'_ He heard through the blades, _'Do you see the world as I see it?'_

'I understand.'

More words, before he fell to the ground, overcome by the strains of the trance.

_'Sword Saint.'_

* * *

**Authors Note:**  
**I lied, here's the first chapter. Up next, Naruto journeys to meet a rather odd creature.**

EDIT 1: Just putting credit where it's due, I took elements from R. Scott Baker's 'The Darkness That Comes Before' for the Sword Saint Trance. I'd give the series a checking out, they're good books. A bit grim in places, though. 


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